Beautiful Forever University

Beautiful Forever University – is professional educator Cheryl Whitman’s online program to provide marketing and practice-building education to physicians and members of their staffs. The University offers cutting-edge information in the form of blogs, videos, white papers, articles, newsletters, and even live Facebook postings.

Contact Beautiful Forever for more information about your specific practice-building education needs.

Practice Management Tips
To Help Your Practice Be Beautifully Profitable & Forever Profitable

Tip #1: Know Your Target Market
Understand whom you plan to serve before you open your door.

To be successful, you must identify who your target market is and what you will be offering them. Trying to be all things to all people is likely to end in failure. Identify what you are an expert in and what service offerings compliment your medical practice. Then develop a service menu that clearly articulates those. Limit the number of offerings and price them competitively, at least until your practice is well established. Too many can confuse patients and trying to provide too many different services can hurt your profit potential. Your goal is to understand your target market and to establish a clear identity with them. Doing so will help you generate a consistent revenue stream, help create patient loyalty, and will set you up for future growth, while maintaining your integrity as a solid Medical Aesthetic Practice.

This tip is adapted from “Beautifully Profitable, Forever Profitable,” by Cheryl Whitman, Pages 6-7

Tip #2: Tips for a More Successful Practice
Three simple ideas to help you grow your practice.

If you would like to grow your practice, follow these three tips. First, ask your current patients for referrals. Most people are happy to refer their friends, but seldom think of doing so without being asked. Second, thank those people that are sending you referrals. A quick, hand-written note builds a huge amount of good will. Include a token gift with the note such as a $5 Starbucks gift card to show your appreciation. Better yet, give them a free product or a discount on a future service to encourage them to come back in. More traffic equals an increased bottom line. Finally, offer new products and services to existing clients. The first sale to a potential client is the most difficult. After a client has chosen to buy from you once, offer them incentives to keep buying from you. Loyalty clubs are a great way to do this. Follow these three tips and you will see more traffic through your door and more dollars flowing to your bottom line!

This tip is adapted from “Beautifully Profitable, Forever Profitable,” by Cheryl Whitman, Page 101

Tip #3: Know Your Numbers
To keep your business healthy, know and understand your numbers.

Just as knowing your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers can help you stay healthy, knowing the key numbers in your business can keep you on the road to success. It is important to use quantifiable metrics rather than intuition to keep your practice on the right track. Your accountant can help you identify key financial metrics and develop a plan to review them regularly. Satisfied patients are critical to a successful and profitable practice. To ensure you are meeting your patient’s expectations, you should also identify and monitor client satisfaction metrics. Finally, to facilitate practice growth, you should use demographic and lead metrics to target your marketing efforts. Managing your practice by the numbers will help you enjoy a profitable and growing practice.

This tip is adapted from “Beautifully Profitable, Forever Profitable,” by Cheryl Whitman, Pages 19-20

Tip #4: Word of Mouth Marketing is the Best
Get your patients telling their friends about you.

In a successful Medical Practice, patient referrals account for up to 80% of patient volume. This makes patient referrals the life blood of your practice and this is even more true for Aesthetic Medical practices. Don’t leave referrals to chance! Every practice needs a professionally executed patient referral program to ensure a steady flow of new patients. Develop a patient referral program and train your staff on when and how to ask for referrals. Word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing. And according to marketing giant, McKinsey & Company, “Word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising” Start your referral program today!

This tip is adapted from “Beautifully Profitable, Forever Profitable,” by Cheryl Whitman, Page 61

Tip #5: What’s New?
The importance of updating your menu.

Your menu of services is your revenue generator. It should provide your patients with more than just a list of available services and pertinent information such as hours and booking information. It must communicate the value and expertise of your practice as well as entice patients to book services. Just as a restaurant must update its menu to avoid becoming dull and dated, you must update your menu to include new services. Think in terms of tried and true services combined with up-to-the-minute, must-have-now service offerings. Today’s Medical Spa clients are very well informed so they proactively seek out the location that offers the beauty enhancement procedures they are looking for. Your menu should clearly communicate the benefits each treatment offers and it should reflect your brand. Promote value, not price. Take a few minutes to review your menu with your staff. Chances are, adding a new must-have offering would be good for the bottom line.

This tip is adapted from “Beautifully Profitable, Forever Profitable,” by Cheryl Whitman, Page 138

Tip #6: Something Old, Something New
Adding New Profit Centers can add more to your bottom line.

The popularity of aesthetic medicine is increasing, a trend that is likely to continue. Now is an excellent time to consider adding a new, aesthetic profit center to your practice. It can bring new revenue and enhanced profit to your Medical Practice. Research what’s trending and compare that with demand in your area. Then act. In taking advantage of the many new profit-center opportunities, there’s an easy way and there’s a hard way – a way that capitalizes on practical experience, and a way that give you that practical experience. If you or a staff member has expertise in a given area and the time to make use of it, you can probably manage to add that new service yourself. However, if time is short or expertise is lacking, it is both prudent and profitable to capitalize on the knowledge of existing experts, and hire an expert to handle that new service.

This tip is adapted from “Beautifully Profitable, Forever Profitable,” by Cheryl Whitman, Pages IV-XI

Tip #7: Create a Winning Team – Improving Staff Performance
A staff with average training means a Practice with Below Average performance.

One of the most important parts of an Aesthetic Medical Practice is your staff. Without a strong, well-trained staff, your day and your practice’s performance can be a nightmare. An inadequately trained staff results in lost patients, lost profits, and an endangered reputation. Engage in continuous training. Make customer service a priority and train your staff in what makes a satisfied patient. In addition, make sure your staff is exceptionally well trained in the procedures your practice offers, the products your practice sells, and the credentials your team holds. They should be able to answer patient questions in a friendly, informed, and professional manner in terms the patient can understand. Remember, an outstanding staff leads to a strong bottom line.